The condition wherein the edge of a toe or finger nail grows into the soft tissue of the digit, causing inflammation and on occasions an abscess, is generally called an ingrown nail. Ingrown nails are often caused by improper clipping of the nail. In this regard, conventional nail clippers cut the nail with a slight curvature across the anterior extremity, leaving the outer edges of the nail to grow outward, and downward, into the adjacent soft tissue. Certain conventional nail clipping devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 702,516; 2,774,138; 3,430,340; and 4,637,137. However, none of these devices has provided a clipping means which influences future growth of the nail so as to relieve pressure on the soft tissue and prevent future ingrowth.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nail cutting device and associated method for treating and/or preventing ingrown nails.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nail cutting device for producing a notch in the anterior extremity of a nail to facilitate redirection of nail growth toward the center of the nail to prevent ingrowth of the nail into the soft tissue adjacent the nail.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a nail cutting device which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.